Exhaust systems are widely known and used with combustion engines. Typically, an exhaust system includes exhaust tubes or pipes that convey hot exhaust gases from an engine exhaust manifold to other downstream exhaust system components, such as catalytic converters, mufflers, resonators, etc. As known, a catalytic converter converts toxic by-products of the exhaust gases to less toxic substances by way of catalysed chemical reactions. The catalytic converter includes a substrate positioned within a housing that has an exhaust gas inlet and an exhaust gas outlet. As the exhaust gas flows through the substrate, pollutants such as carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon, and oxides of nitrogen are converted to less toxic substances such as carbon dioxide and water, for example.
It is known to use mixing elements positioned upstream of the catalytic converter in an attempt to efficiently direct exhaust flow into the substrate. While these plates have proved effective, there is always a need to further increase emission conversion efficiency.